


Knock at the Door

by anemptymargin



Series: New Beginnings [8]
Category: Psych
Genre: Community: older_not_dead, Episode Tag, F/M, Older Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-26
Updated: 2012-05-26
Packaged: 2017-11-06 01:12:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/413069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anemptymargin/pseuds/anemptymargin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At two in the morning, Henry gets a knock on his door.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knock at the Door

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [older_not_dead](http://older-not-dead.livejournal.com/) promptathon 9. Episode tag for 6x09.
> 
> Spoilers: Neil Simon's Lover's Retreat
> 
> Prompt: ?. ?/?. Knock at the door

The night Henry returned from his little adventure in Ojai, he couldn’t sleep. It had been a couple weeks since his argument with Karen and she’d barely said two words to him that didn’t involve work or coffee. A dozen times, he’d considered calling or texting her – but always stopped short of pressing the button to do so. If she wanted to talk to him, she’d let him know. Going to the bar with Gus, and reluctantly Lassiter, had been fun – hell, it’d even helped his ego to know he still had it in him to get a number from a crazy twenty-something that was into him enough to chase him all the way to the valley – but when it came down to it, he just didn’t have it in him to want that anymore.

 

He didn’t want anyone else. He wanted to make it right with Karen and to make her understand how serious he was about giving up his badge to make it work out if that’s what it would take. He’d realized months before, after the first time he wanted to beg her not to leave his bed at the end of the night, that he was in deep. He was falling hard and fast… and once he fell in love with her, there’d be no turning back.

 

After tossing and turning for several hours, well after midnight he went down to the kitchen to throw himself into something he knew would at least create something – in this particular instance a peach cobbler and some breakfast cookies that could hold over a day until he was back at work. Half asleep, letting the smell of warm peaches wrap around him, Henry zoned out leaning against the sink until he heard an unexpected knock at the door.

 

Concerned with the thought of who’d be at his door at that hour, he went right to it; peeking out the window at the car he hadn’t even heard pull up… it was Karen. At two in the in morning, no good could come from her showing up instead of calling. “What’s wrong?” He asked as he opened the door, eyeing her closely. She was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, her hair pulled back and traces of her nightly regimen of eye cream and facial cleanser were apparent on the clean skin. Her eyes were red and rimmed with dark circles – she’d been crying, and clearly about as starved for sleep as he was. “Karen…”

 

“No, it’s fine… I was in the neighborhood and saw your light was on and thought I’d check in on you.” He knew it was a brush off, her usual way of saying ‘don’t worry about me, I don’t want to talk about it’ when she knew eventually they would.

 

“Karen, you live on the other side of town… you don’t have a reason to be in my neighborhood.”

 

She laughed without humor; “Yeah, funny that.” She shook her head and padded toward the smells coming from his kitchen in her bunny slippers. “I thought the same thing last night…” she scoffed; “…and the night before that and last Thursday when Mister Guster’s car was in my spot…”

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked quietly.

 

As though she didn’t hear him, Karen continued; “Ha! I guess,  I guess I’ve been watching and coming by and hoping maybe you’d call me and we could talk again and everything would be okay… or maybe I’d see your light still on at two in the morning and smell pie when you opened the door – and oh god, tell me that’s a peach cobbler…”

 

“Karen.” His voice took on a firm tone as he gently grasped her arms from behind; “You’re exhausted, babe… what’s going on here?”

 

“And Henry Spencer, damn super cop has to ask me what’s going on…” she laughed again, sharp and jittery. “Isn’t it obvious?”

 

“Shh…” Henry pulled her against his chest, holding her close in an attempt to get her to relax. After a long moment, she turned and rested her head against his shoulder – hitching a silent sob as she tried to speak. “It’s okay, Karen. I’m here, we can talk… but we don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

 

Slowly, she pulled away from his embrace and nodded as she sat heavily in a dining room chair. “I, uh… I guess you had a bit of an adventure today,” she said, rubbing her tired, sad eyes.

 

Chuckling softly, Henry nodded – pretty sure it was safe to leave her be long enough to take out the baked goods and pour cold water for both of them. “Yeah, well – it’s not every day you get chased by a crazy 20-something and end up locked in a sauna and then take part in a balloon chase in a Ferrari. I’ve decided that women in bars, steam rooms and any vehicle with Carlton Lassiter behind the wheel are on my list of things to avoid.”

 

Karen laughed, a little more genuinely than before; “I heard about the sauna and the Ferrari – but you picked up a woman in a bar?” Her voice sounds almost hurt at the question, and Henry regretted saying it immediately.

 

“No, well… it’s…” he stammered, bringing over their water before sitting down at the head of the table and looking her dead on. “Me and Gus and Lassiter went out for a couple drinks the other night and sort of got into this stupid bet about who could get a number first. And after I made the rounds of the limited number of women even close to my age, I went back to the bar where I started talking with this girl. And apparently, it turns out she’s some sort of freak that’s really into the whole… _older man_ thing.” He shook his head more at himself than anything else. “I guess part of me was kind of strutting a bit when I was the only one that got a number…”

 

“Gus didn’t even get one, I mean… I can see why Lassiter wouldn’t, but Gus is a pretty nice catch…”

 

“Who comes on stronger than a Mac truck and scares the hell out of any girl that isn’t even crazier than the one I pulled.”

 

Karen shrugged and then was quiet for a long moment, sipping her water. Eventually, she asked; “So, you two, uh… did you…”

 

“What, me? And her?” His eyes shot open wide and he shook his head almost frantically. “No, no way… not even with somebody else’s dick.” Closing his eyes for a second, he took in a deep breath and corrected himself; “Okay, that was maybe too far, but still… no. I’m just, you know… even if she wasn’t almost young enough to be a kid that Shawn could have babysat when he was in junior high; I’m just not in the market right now.” He looked back up at her, a little sheepish and almost hoping she wouldn’t call him on what he was saying.

 

“So, you’re not… looking?” She asked, staring down into her water.

 

He shook his head; “No, I’m… I’m done. Figure I had a couple good shots and blew it, may as well throw in the towel on that.”

 

Quiet again for another drawn out moment that should have been awkward but somehow wasn’t, Karen replied with a near whisper; “Henry… the, uh… the divorce papers were finalized last week. I meant to tell you, but with everything that’s been going on and the thing with Shawn…”

 

“I understand,” he said easily, nodding toward her – wishing it were easier to reach across the table and hold her again. Maybe, just maybe, things were going to be okay. Maybe that’s why she was in his kitchen at two in the morning looking like hell and failing at conversation. “It’ll be good for you to start dating again, meeting other men and seeing what’s out there.”

 

A sound halfway between a laugh and a sob seized her throat and she lowered her head, her breathing ragged and shoulders clearly squared to as though fighting back the urge to flee. “Damn it, Henry…” her voice dropped to a low whine that he’d never heard before – it was unnerving compared to her usually confident tone. “How the hell do you do that?”

 

“I don’t… what?”

 

She looked back up at him, her eyes glossy with fresh tears; “I don’t want to feel like this, Henry.” Karen sighed loudly and rubbed her eyes again and he could see the nearly washed away track of the day’s mascara on the outside of her palm – she really had been fighting it all day. “I’m tired of being angry, and I’m tired of feeling alone and confused and like the only place I belong is here with you.”

 

“Karen, I…”

 

She continued as though stopping would mean never being able to finish her thought. “I should have fired you, Henry. I should have accepted your resignation and been able to keep you all to myself,” she let out another high-pitched humorless laugh; “but that’d be selfish, and Santa Barbra needs you just as much as I do… and if I’ve learned anything in the last five years it’s that she comes before I do.”

 

“I’ll resign, if you want me to. The department did just fine without me before, it’ll be fine again.” He reached across the table and took her hand, holding it tightly. “I love you, Karen. And I know it’s soon to say it, but I need to. I need you to know that how I feel about you means more to me than policing Shawn and playing like I’m a detective again.”

 

A slow, but even smile crossed her lips, and then curved to a deep frown and she looked back down to her water as a fat tear rolled down her cheek – leaving a track in her firming cream. “Damn it,” she shook her head; “I can’t let you do that.”

 

He squeezed her hand again, lacing their fingers together until she looked up at him with those same heavy eyes. “Then don’t. We’ll step back to the way things were before I screwed up. Give me another chance…” he leaned in close enough to smell her soap and toothpaste, “give us another chance.”

 

Without hesitation, she leaned in and kissed him – both hands coming up to cup his cheeks and hold him there until she was breathless and shaking. “Okay…” she whispered, closing her eyes when she sat back up; “we can do that…”

 

“Look at me, Karen…” he said, taking both of her hands in his. “Please.”

 

Slowly, she did – wetness visible under her light lashes and then finally staining her soft eyes. She was exhausted, but seemed relieved and looked at him with that same warmth she’d had when he told her that he might feelings for her what seemed like half an age before. “We’ll try again.”

 

He nodded; “I know. That’s not what I want you to hear.” Before she could interrupt, he said; “I love you, and I want you to know that. Do you understand, Karen? I… _love you_.”

 

She studied him, her eyes boring into his as though searching for some sense of a lie that wasn’t there. Finally, she said; “I know.” She couldn’t say it yet herself; her wounds were still too fresh from the last man she’d loved, but knowing she understood was enough for him. “I’d like to say tonight, Henry… may I?”

 

Smiling, softly but surely, Henry replied; “I thought you’d never ask.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fictional parody in no way intended to infringe upon the rights of any individual or corporate entity. Any and all characters or celebrity personae belong to their rightful owners. Absolutely no money has or will be gained from this work. Please do not publicly link, repost or redistribute without letting me know first.


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